Mid-American Conference

East Division
JoAnna Smith, Buffalo, Guard
Senior / Suthaven, Mississippi - Southaven
Senior JoAnna Smith continued her strong play for the Bulls this week as she helped UB go 1-1 with a road win at Western Michigan. The Southaven, MS native averaged 38.0 minutes, 26.5 points, 3.5 rebounds and 1.5 steals while leading UB in scoring both games. On Wednesday night, Smith went off for a team-best 26 points, three rebounds and two assists as she was able to connect on a season-high six three pointers across 38 minutes. Smith moved into third place on UB's all-time three pointers made list with 167 career triples. On Saturday, Smith continued her high level of play as she was able to net a game-high 27 points on 11-for-20 from the floor and 5-for-11 from behind the arc. With her 27-point effort, Smith moved into 11th place on UB's all-time scoring charts with 1,172 career points, just one point shy of entering the top-10. Through nine MAC games, Smith ranks third in the MAC in scoring (21.0 PPG) and second in three pointers made (30).
 
West Division
Moriah Monaco, Ball State, Forward
Junior / Dover Hills, Ohio – Dover
Behind junior forward Moriah Monaco's career high 35-points, the Cardinals earned an 89-75 road win at Buffalo Wednesday night in Alumni Arena. She also tied her career record in 3-pointers made with eight against the Bulls. Moriah Monaco led the Cardinals again Saturday against Northern Illinois with 23 points, and actually made more shots from the floor than NIU. Monaco has now scored in all but one of the Cardinals 21 games this season. For the week, she averaged 29 points and made 11 3-pointers.

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Other Nominees
Hannah Boesinger, Ohio, Forward
Senior / Hudson, Ohio - Hudson
Senior forward Hannah Boesinger led the Bobcats this week, setting a season high in points twice to help the Bobcats to a 2-0 week in MAC play. Overall, Boesinger averaged 15.0 points a game to go along with 6.5 rebounds. She also averted half an assist a game and half a steal per game. She was 11-of-22 (.500) from the field, 5-of-11 (.454) from three-point range and 3-of-6 (.500) from the free throw line. Boesinger's dominance because on Jan. 25 against WMU. After Jasmine Weatherspoon went down early with an injury, Boesinger was forced to take most her minutes. In the game, Boesinger scored 13 points, then a season high, and grabbed seven rebounds and dished out one assist in 30 minutes of action. Boesinger was 5-of-7 from the field, a perfect 2-of-2 from three-point range and 1-of-2 from the free throw line in the Bobcats' 80-67 win over the Broncos. Boesinger followed up that performance with an even better one at Miami on Jan. 28. In the game, Boesinger set another season-high with 17 points. She was 6-of-15 from the field, 3-of-9 from three-point range and 2-of-4 from the free throw line. Boesinger also set season highs in three-point field goals made and attempted. She also snagged six boards in 21 minutes on the court in the 79-62 victory.
 
Larissa Lurken, Kent State, Guard
Senior / Cottage Grove, Minnesota - Park
Despite one of her lowest field goal percentage performances for a week this season, Lurken managed to stay atop the MAC as the leading scorer by averaging 27.5 points with 24 points at NIU and 31 against BGSU on Saturday. She remained the nation's top player at the free throw line as she earned 31 attempts and was good on 29 of those. Lurken also averaged 6.0 rebounds per game totaled six assists. Her defense was evident also with five steals and three blocks; she also took a charge at the end of the game Saturday to set up the game-winning shot for her teammate.
 
Breanna Mobley, Western Michigan, Forward
Sphomore / Lansing, Michigan – Waverly
Mobley averaged a double-double last week at 13.0 points and 10.5 rebounds while shooting a high-percentage (.529). She recorded her ninth double-double of the season at Ohio while battling through foul trouble and only being able to play 22 minutes. She tied for a team-high 18 points in the game against the Bobcats. At home against Buffalo, Mobley finished with 11 rebounds, making it the 11th game this season she’s finished with 10 or more rebounds. She’s the only member of the team to do that more than two times this season. Mobley continues to sit at the top of the MAC in many statistical categories, where she is 0.1 rebounds per game off first place in rebounds, leads the league in offensive rebounds per game (4.4) and is fourth in field goal percentage (.553) while sitting 13th in scoring (14.8).
 
Janice Monakana, Toledo, Forward
Senior / London, England
Senior Janice Monakana led a season-tying best five Rockets in double figures with 18 points, six rebounds and a contest-best three steals vs. Central Michigan on Saturday. Monakana led UT in scoring for the third time in the last four games. She is averaging a team-high 16.3 points during this recent stretch. She scored 12 of her 18 points in the second half to help Toledo snap a three-game losing skid.
 
Tinara Moore, Central Michigan, Forward
Junior / Southgate, Michigan – Southgate Anderson
Central Michigan suffered its second-straight Mid-American Conference loss, 74-72, at Toledo last Saturday as the Chippewas hold a 14-6 overall record and 6-2 MAC mark. Junior Tinara Moore led the CMU offense once again as she scored a season-high 33 points against the Rockets. She went 10-of-18 (.556) from the field and shot 84.6 percent (11-of-13) from the free throw line. The junior has drained two triples on three tries, which tied a career-high. Moore grabbed eight rebounds, posted two blocks and dished out one assist. She has scored in double figures in the last three contests and six of the eight MAC games played. Moore is averaging 14.9 points per game (overall) and 20.1 points per game in conference play.
 
Hannah Plybon, Akron, Guard
Senior / Orrville, Ohio - Orrville
Senior Hannah Plybon propelled Akron to an 80-62 triumph over Eastern Michigan on the strength of a team-best 26 points, while pulling down five rebounds and dishing out a pair of assists. She connected on nearly 59 percent (.588) of her shots from the field and went 6-for-12 from beyond the arc. She poured in 21 of her 26 points and five of her six three pointers in the second half in which the Zips came-from-behind to defeat Eastern Michigan. On the season, Plybon is averaging a team-best 18.5 points and 5.4 rebounds per game, while hitting a team-high 59 triples.
 
Leah Purvis, Miami, Guard
Sophomore / Los Angeles, California – The Buckley School
In Miami's only game of the week, sophomore guard Leah Purvis shot 8-of-17 from the field, including 4-of-7 from long range, scoring a career-high 23 points against Ohio on Saturday. She also chipped in two rebounds, two assists and a steal while turning the ball over just once. Her performance marked the fifth time this season she has hit three or more from long range, and the fourth contest with four makes from beyond the arc.
 
Carly Santoro, Bowling Green, Guard
Sophomore / Bellevue, Ohio - Bellevue
Bowling Green sophomore Carly Santoro averaged a double-double last week, with 25.0 points and 12.0 rebounds per game in a pair of narrow road losses. Santoro led the Brown and Orange with 18 points and 13 rebounds in BG's overtime setback at Eastern Michigan. She forced the OT when, with BG trailing in the latter stages of the fourth quarter, she came up with a steal, drew a foul and hit a pair of free throws that tied the score with 6.6 seconds left in regulation. Then, Santoro exploded for a career-high 32 points, including 22 in the second half, at Kent State. She had her second-straight double-double, leading all players with 11 rebounds, and was 11-of-18 from the field on the afternoon. She scored 14 of her points in the fourth quarter alone, including BGSU's last eight points of the game. Santoro leads the Falcons in both scoring and rebounding this season, with 13.1 ppg and 7.5 rpg. In MAC games, she has 14.7 ppg and 8.3 rpg, again leading the Brown and Orange in both categories.
 
Phillis Webb, Eastern Michigan, Guard
Senior / Brooklyn Park, Minnesota - Osseo
Senior Phillis Webb (Brooklyn Park, Minn. - Osseo) had a fantastic week for EMU, as she averaged 27.0 points, 9.5 rebounds and 51.4 percent shooting on the week. In EMU's first MAC win of the year, the senior guard poured in 27 points and 11 rebounds for her 10th career double-double. In 35 minutes of work, Webb was 11-for-20 despite missing all of overtime after fouling out late in the fourth quarter. Then at Akron, Webb again recorded 27 points and eight caroms. The highlight of the performance was Webb connected on five three-pointers, the most in her career besting a previous high of four she had accomplished three other times. She was also a perfect 6-for-6 from the free throw line. Webb is now just 32 points away from 1,000 points and 12 rebounds from 700 in her career.
 
Courtney Woods, NIU, Guard
Sophomore / Brisbane, Australia
Courtney Woods led the Huskies in points and rebounds last week while converting an impressive 8-of-18 attempts behind the three-point line to aid NIU to a pair of victories and a 97-point average on the week. In Muncie on Saturday, Woods opened the game 0-for-5 behind the arc before hitting her last five three-point attempts to lead the Huskies with 21 points. Woods also led NIU in rebounds with eight rebounds alongside Ally Lehman in the game. Versus Kent State, she was one of six Huskies to score in double figures, hitting all four of her free throw attempts with three treys for a total of 15 points. She also pulled down eight boards against the Golden Flashes.